AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Gunther,” I mumbled to myself.
I was losing my temper. I considered, for a moment, letting Rune ravage through these idiots. But killing even one of them would give Gunther exactly what he wanted. It would make it look like I was declaring war on the church, which was utterly bizarre considering how much my family had donated to it. But that was always the answer, wasn’t it? Money. I’d never had much to do with the church until Gunther tried to steal my kingdom from me so he could throw it into the dark ages again. But what I now realized was that for every honest monk who truly had given up his life to serving the poor, there was one who served the almighty gold coin above anything else.
I narrowed my eyes at the frog monk. “Now you all listen to me carefully. In a matter of hours, I will request His Holiness to remove Gunther from his duties and have him placed somewhere far, far away.”
Frog monk dared to open his mouth, but I threw him a deadly stare to shut him up. He lowered his head.
“And before you waste your time and wonder why His Holiness would do that for me, I urge you to trust my logic that gold can go a long way. A very long way, to be precise.” I stepped closer to the frog monk. “And as fortune has it, I have a lot of it.”
The group of monks gawked at me.
“Now, before I request that every single one of you be sent on a life-long missionary quest in the Amazon alongside your beloved Gunther Brunswick, I urge you to choose your next step wisely and show some loyalty to your queen. You can start by getting a doctor and telling me where the rebels are.”
The tunnel was as silent as a graveyard, which, judging by the bodies, it was turning into. I could practically hear the monks thinking. Frog Monk looked at me in defiance, but out of nowhere, one of the younger monks stepped out of the group and rushed to Dieter’s side. He had a pleasant, symmetrical face, but his back had a little hump.
“Help me lift him,” he said to the others, who one by one came running over. “And fetch the doctor,” he added as they carefully lifted Dieter off the floor.
A huge sigh of relief escaped my lips. “I’ll make sure you will be rewarded for this,” I said. The young monk ignored me and made his first steps back in the direction they had come—this time with Dieter in their hands.
“You can send me wherever you or God sees fit, My Queen,” the young monk countered. “Blood was spilled in the house of God. I’m helping you because it’s the right thing to do and because I was made part of something evil by the means of deceit from one of our own.”
I threw Rune a quick glance over my shoulder. He frowned and put his sword away.
“Follow me,” the young monk said as we all walked down the tunnel toward the Rhine Dome. “There is a room that was used for women to be held during the godforsaken witch trials before the time of your great-grandfather. If there are any men hidden in our sacred walls, it would be there.”
Frog Monk crossed his arms, pouting as his wide lips curved down. I threw him another disapproving glance when Rune grabbed my arm.
“What?” I demanded. But Rune was looking over my head at the monks, who paused to see what was going on.
“Take care of the wounded man and free the men locked in your dungeon. The queen has to return to her castle.”
I tried to pull free of his grip, but it was hopeless. How dare he grab me like this! How dare he keep me from Alrick.
“I said, let go of me.”
“Don’t be foolish,” Rune countered, calm but stern. “The plays at your castle are coming to an end. The whole world will notice you are missing. You have the most important men from all the kingdoms gathered to celebrate you. Do you think it would be wise to openly choose a bunch of worthless rebels over them? How will that help you garner loyalty for your crown?”
I flinched.
Worthless rebels.
I wanted to spit on him. But, in the end, he was right about one thing. I pictured the crowd turning away from the ended spectacle of exotic dancers and magicians, looking for me, muttering in confusion about what was going on. I could see Gunther stepping forward, using the moment to plant doubt in everyone’s minds about my fitness to rule the kingdom.
I stopped struggling against Rune and looked at Dieter. Even if the monks would free the rebels, how could I just leave him here?
“He is in good hands,” Rune said, as if he could read my mind. “His head needs to rest, not get shaken by a horse or carriage.”
The young monk nodded. “He is right. He needs to be still. There is a physician close to the Dome who uses the old and new ways of medicine. He is very good. We will call for him.”
It felt like I was abandoning them both, Alrick and Dieter, but there was logic in Rune’s words.
“My Queen,” Rune said again, in a soft voice this time, like a lover’s. A shiver ran down my spine. “Mina,” he added. It sounded so gentle and understanding, I could almost have been convinced it was Alrick who had said my name, not Rune.
I swallowed the pain that formed in my throat and turned away from Dieter. “If he dies, I will hold you accountable,” I threatened the frog monk. “I expect the Northerners at my ball in less than an hour.”
With tightly clenched fists, I freed myself from Rune’s grip and strode past him. I knew he wanted to help, for reasons beyond me, but I didn’t like the way he made me feel when he spoke my name. It was infuriating.
“Don’t ever call me by my first name again,” I said to him as I made my way down the dark tunnel and toward the forest chapel.
